Search for Names, Places and Biographies

Theodor Kamp * 1890

Spaldingstraße 70 (Hamburg-Mitte, Hammerbrook)

Verhaftet 1937 und 1939
KZ Fuhlsbüttel
Flucht in den Tod
07.04.1942

Theodor Kamp, born on 7 Dec. 1890, detained in 1923, 1937, 1939, suicide on 7 Apr. 1942 in Hamburg

Spaldingstrasse 70 (formerly Spaldingstrasse 82)

The radio technician Theodor Kamp was born in 1890 as one of 12 children of the farmer Jacob Kamp and his wife Anna Maria Kamp (née Schiefer) in Neuboddenberg/Solingen district (today Leverkusen). On 7 Apr. 1942, he poisoned himself with city gas in his apartment at Spaldingstrasse 82 on the second floor. That same day, he had received a summons for interrogation by the 24th Office of the Criminal Investigation Department (24. Kriminalkommissariat), which was in charge of combating homosexuality.

As early as 1908, Theodor Kamp had undertaken several suicide attempts, resulting in his committal to a sanatorium. After finishing the eight-grade elementary school (Volksschule), he worked in agriculture, before getting training at several companies to become a radio technician. In 1912, he moved to Hamburg. In 1913 and 1918, he again made two suicide attempts, which led to a stay in the Friedrichsberg State Hospital (Staatskrankenanstalt Friedrichsberg). In 1915, he came up against the law for the first time because of his homosexuality; he was sentenced for causing a public nuisance in accordance with Sec. 183 of the Reich Criminal Code (Reichsstrafgesetzbuch – RStGB). In 1917 and 1919, convictions followed for theft and in 1923 another one for causing a public nuisance – this time he was sentenced to six weeks in prison.

Since 1924, he lived at Spaldingstrasse 82, initially as a subtenant, later taking over the apartment. Until 1928, he worked as an electrician in a senior position, then as a self-employed radio technician, until his trade license was revoked in 1936.

In 1937, he took in a married couple as subtenants. They noticed that their landlord frequently had male visitors. Consequently, the husband denounced Theodor Kamp to police. After his arrest, Kamp was in detention as a police "protective custody prisoner” ("Schutzhäftling”) in the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp from 23 Mar. until 28 Apr. 1937. On 21 July 1937, the Hamburg District Court (Amtsgericht) found him guilty of having contravened Sec. 175 of the Reich Criminal Code, sentencing him to ten months in prison. He served this sentence in the Fuhlsbüttel penitentiary until 20 Jan. 1938.

On 17 Sept. 1939, Theodor Kamp was reported to police by a heterosexual man because Kamp had approached him in a slightly drunk state on Steindamm, inviting him to a beer to the Nagel Inn on Kirchenallee and attempting there to harass him physically. Because of this incident, Kamp was sentenced in 1940 to 18 months in prison for an offense pursuant to Sec. 175 and attempted offense pursuant to Secs. 175 a Item 3, 43, and 73 of the RStGB. After his release from the Fuhlsbüttel penitentiary on 4 July 1941, he was subject to regular police observation.
After his suicide on 7 Apr. 1942, the police officers found a piece of paper that read, "Do not pity me. I feel at ease. To all my friends, a warm farewell. I am so happy.”

Translator: Erwin Fink

Kindly supported by the Hermann Reemtsma Stiftung, Hamburg.

Stand: October 2016
© Bernhard Rosenkranz/Ulf Bollmann

Quellen: StaHH, 331-5 Polizeibehörde – Unnatürliche Sterbefälle, 814/42; StaHH, 213-11, Staatsanwaltschaft Landgericht – Strafsachen, 450/40; StaHH, 242-1II Gefängnisverwaltung II, Ablieferungen 13 und 16; StaHH, 213-8 Staatsanwaltschaft Oberlandesgericht – Verwaltung, Ablieferung 2, 451 a E 1, 1 b.